As seen in this May 2011 photo, tarballs were easy to find on the uninhabited portion of Dauphin Island. Though BP performed some cleanup operations on that section of the island during the winter, work was halted March 1 to protect nesting birds. The tar has collected at the edge of the sand dunes, clinging to seashells and driftwood. (Press-Register/Ben Raines)GULF SHORES, Alabama — The U.S. Coast Guard captain leading BP oil spill cleanup efforts has criticized Alabama officials for a lack of communication about emergency response plans.
Mayors of the state’s coastal communities were denied access to a closed-door meeting in New Orleans this week, and said they still haven’t been told how to handle oil-stained debris should storm surge heave it onto local shores.
U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Julia Hein, the federal on-scene coordinator of the cleanup, said Thursday that federal agencies had a plan for clearing oil-stained debris in the wake of a storm.
She earlier this week sent an email complaining that state officials had not properly communicated the information to local leaders.
Steve Jenkins, who represented the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the mayors in Wednesday’s meeting, said he did not get responses to his most important questions. ADEM is the state’s liaison with federal and BP officials where spill issues are concerned.
Ever since last year’s Deepwater Horizon explosion sent oil onto the Alabama shores, elected officials along the coast have been worried about the repeat of the disaster from possible offshore oil brought in by storm surge.
"The questions have been very clearly, very articulately asked," Jenkins said Thursday, discussing the Wednesday meeting that included the Coast Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Alabama Emergency Management Agency and BP officials at the Gulf Coast Incident Management Team’s headquarters.
When he asked who would clean up oil debris and who would pay for the cleanup, he said he was told he would receive a response from FEMA next week.
"We’ve been asking these questions for a year," he said. "We’ve got to get these questions answered. FEMA says we will. But here we’ve got Tropical Storm Don in the Gulf, and it’s mighty late to get these questions answered."
A FEMA spokeswoman said she could not provide any details about Wednesday’s meeting.
Tension between ADEM and the Coast Guard had been building before Wednesday’s meeting in New Orleans.
On Monday, Hein sent a sharply worded email to Jenkins. The Press-Register obtained a copy from Orange Beach on Thursday.
In the 3-paragraph email, Hein urged state-level officials to participate in person during ongoing discussions about severe weather response and how that relates to the BP spill.
"It is becoming more and more apparent that there is a need for you all to be here in order to get the most current/correct information to pass and that it is passed regularly," Hein wrote.
She also accused the mayors of using the debate as a political tool.
"Remote representation doesn’t appear to be working for (Alabama)," she continued. "We don’t seem to be having the same level of miscommunication in the other states. Trust me, I do understand that some of this may be for the mayors to get some press time as elections seasons come up. Please let me know if that is the case."
Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft has said that he has no plans to run for re-election next year.
Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon, who does plan to seek the mayoral seat next year, took offense to Hein’s comment.
"I don’t know that there’s a greater insult that anyone can put on someone than to accuse you of a hidden agenda or a selfish motive for your actions," he said.
Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier said he’s still weighing the option of re-election.
"We’re simply wanting the right thing to happen for our communities," Collier said. "It’s certainly not a political issue on my part. We shouldn’t have to be working this hard to get BP and the federal government to do the right thing."
Hein implied in her email that Jenkins and ADEM had not supplied municipal leaders with the proper information about recovering oil-stained storm debris. She also pointed out that tarballs from the Deepwater Horizon spill are not believed to be toxic.
"So I’m a bit confused as to why folks aren’t feeling they are getting it," Hein wrote.
Hein told Jenkins: "Please get with your mayors and realign their expectations."
In his reply, Jenkins said that Gulf Coast officials asked a year ago for clarification on oil cleanup following a storm.
"Tropical weather response is largely a local function and it makes no sense to exclude the locals," Jenkins wrote. "My clear read is that the local governments do not want to pay any increased response cost due to the presence of oil/tar. Their request for a face-to-face meeting is eminently reasonable."
Jenkins said Thursday that he believes there’s a deeper conflict at the crux of the issue.
He’s been told that under the Stafford Act, which allows the president to direct a response under a state of emergency, FEMA and the EPA would not authorize funds to clean oil that didn’t originate from last summer’s BP spill.
The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 lays the onus of cleanup on the company responsible for the spill, in this case BP.
In the Thursday phone interview with the Press-Register, Hein said states should delegate initial cleanup response after a storm and should be responsible for determining whether oiled debris washed ashore from the BP spill or from another source.
That interview came before the Press-Register received Hein’s email exchange with Jenkins. A Coast Guard spokesman said later Thursday that Hein would have no further comment.
Kennon on Thursday disagreed with Hein’s assessment of hurricane response.
"She is oversimplifying the scenario," he said. "She is assuming the state is the first responder. They’re not. We (city leaders) are on the beach within 12 hours after a storm. We can’t wait around for weeks for someone to decide who’s the responsible party. Can you imagine the chaos?"